President Patil to attend QBR kick-off ceremony

August 20, 2009 09:19 IST

India's Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra will receive the Commonwealth Games baton from Queen Elizabeth II with President Pratibha Devisingh Patil in attendance at Buckingham Palace on October 29.

The ceremony, to be watched by an estimated two billion people on television across the globe, will mark the beginning of 1.75 lakh km Queen's Baton Relay (QBR) during which it will travel through 70 countries.

"Queen will handover the baton to India's star shooter Bindra following a grand opening ceremony at the Buckingham Palace. Launch of the relay will coincide with grand cultural show in Trafalgar Square in London," Delhi Commonwealth Games organising committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi said.

The baton will reach India through the Wagah Border from Pakistan on June 25.

Afterwards, it would travel 25 states and union territories before arriving at its final destination Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi.

Commonwealth Games will be held from October 3-14.

The QBR, which has been a curtain raiser for Commonwealth Games since 1958, will take a week to travel through England.

"Before reaching Nehru Stadium, the baton will travel the country for four months and during the last three days it will travel the national capital," Kalmadi said.